Written Answers Tuesday 19 April 2005

Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many refugees and asylum seekers undertook training and educational courses in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Jim Wallace: Data on training and education for refugees and asylum seekers is not held centrally.

  However, data is available on the number of people attending further education colleges on a part-time English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) course or another part-time non-advanced course whose fee was waived under certain asylum seeker programmes. Table 1 shows the number of fees waived by local authority area.

  The Scottish Executive recently produced a research report called Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Scotland: A Skills and Aspirations Audit which aimed to audit the skills and aspirations of refugees and asylum seekers living in Scotland. This can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/resfinds/sjf10-00.asp.

  Table 1 - Number of Further Education Enrolments: Fee Waiver - Asylum Seeker (Part-Time)1

  

 
Academic Year


2002-03
2003-04


Scotland
6,740
5,010


Aberdeen City
0
30


Dundee City
5
5


East Dunbartonshire
15
20


East Lothian
0
5


East Renfrewshire
5
15


Edinburgh, City of
135
220


Falkirk
0
5


Fife
5
10


Glasgow City
5,995
4,355


North Lanarkshire
0
10


Renfrewshire
10
15


South Lanarkshire
5
15


West Dunbartonshire
5
5


not known
540
305



  Source: Scottish Further Education Funding Council: FES2 data.

  Note: 1. All numbers have been rounded to the nearest five; authorities with less than three enrolments are not shown. Because of rounding the total may not exactly match the sum of the component parts.

Audiology

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on treatment for tinnitus sufferers since the matter was debated in the Parliament on 23 November 2000.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what improvement there will be in services for tinnitus sufferers as a result of the review of audiology services.

Rhona Brankin: As part of the Public Health Institute of Scotland (PHIS) Needs Assessment Report on Audiology Services in Scotland research was conducted into services for people with tinnitus and balance disorders. The report recommended that: "NHS Boards should establish specialist centres or managed clinical networks to ensure the critical mass of expertise required for the development and delivery of specialist services such as aspects of paediatric audiology, the assessment and treatment of tinnitus and balance disorders, and bone-anchored hearing aids. Such arrangements may require consortia of NHS Boards to deliver effective services."

  The impact and importance to the modernisation of audiology services were identified for all recommendations. The Audiology Modernisation Project Board and the Audiology Services Advisory Group will consider all the recommendations made in this report and will include the recommendation made in relation to improving the service for people with tinnitus.

Biodiversity

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether an objective in the review of the Scottish Forestry Strategy will be to ensure that it contributes to the delivery of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

Lewis Macdonald: Forestry has a significant role to play in delivering the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, building on the substantial achievements it has made in recent years. Indeed there are a wide range of forestry related measures in the strategy, as is demonstrated by the strategy implementation plans which were published last month on the Executive’s biodiversity website ( www.biodiversityscotland.org.uk ).

  In leading the review of our Scottish Forestry Strategy, Forestry Commission Scotland will ensure that all relevant aspects of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy are taken into account.

Children and Young Persons Act 1933

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many recorded offences there have been under section 4 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 for causing or allowing persons under 16 to be used for begging in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: Section 4 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 does not extend to Scotland. The equivalent offences in Scotland are under section 15 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937. The recorded crime statistics collected centrally do not distinguish this legislation at this level of detail.

Children’s Hearing System

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12919 by Euan Robson on 22 December 2004, whether it will publish an updated version of the answer reconciling the totals with the data in the table.

Euan Robson: S2W-12919 contained an error in respect of the total for 2002-03 - which is corrected in the following table:

  

Budget
1999-2000
(£000)
2000-01
(£000)
2001-02
(£000)
2002-03
(£000)
2003-04
(£000)


Training
393
393
393
643
665


Recruitment and Support
242
242
300
642
792


Legal Representation of Children
n/a
n/a
500
3,000
3,000


SCRA
12,265
13,747
15,751
16,506
21,176


Total (£ Million)
12.9
14.382
16.944
20.791
25.633

Commission for Racial Equality

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on reports recorded to the Commission for Racial Equality from Scotland in each year from 1999 to date.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Commission for Racial Equality do not routinely advise the Scottish Executive of racist incidents reported to them.

  The commission keeps ministers informed of public bodies’ progress in terms of compliance with the statutory duty to promote race equality.

  Copies of the commission’s annual report, both UK and Scottish, are sent to Scottish ministers each year.

  The Commission in Scotland is a key partner of the Scottish Executive’s in terms of our work to tackle racism and promote race equality. We are therefore in regular contact with them on a wide range of issues.

Community Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people receive direct payments for the provision of care and support, broken down by (a) category of care and support and (b) local authority area.

Rhona Brankin: The information requested is given in table number 8 of the statistics release Direct Payments Scotland 2004 , published in October 2004, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34873). The publication is also available on the website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00370-00.asp .

Defence

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it believes the impact on devolved areas of responsibility will be if Trident missiles in Scotland are (a) replaced and (b) removed.

Hugh Henry: Matters concerning the basing of Trident missiles are reserved to the Westminster Parliament and all questions of detail are for the Ministry of Defence.

Dentistry

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many whole-time equivalent NHS dentists there have been per capita in each year since 1997 and how many offered NHS treatment in (a) Scotland and (b) each NHS board.

Rhona Brankin: Information is collected centrally on whole-time equivalent NHS dentists per capita working in hospital, community and public health services since 1997. However, information on the whole-time equivalent status of dentists working in the General Dental Service and how many offered NHS treatment is not held centrally.

  Given the amount of detail required to answer the question, I will write to the member separately and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 36143).

Fertility Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is on waiting times for tertiary infertility treatment.

Rhona Brankin: Information on infertility waiting times is not routinely recorded.

Fertility Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to complete the forthcoming consultation on infertility services and to make a final announcement on the future structure of these services.

Rhona Brankin: We will be seeking views on revised criteria for access to NHS Funded Assisted Conception Services over summer 2005 and will issue advice to NHS boards in autumn 2005.

Fertility Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the differences in eligibility criteria applied by NHS boards to couples seeking infertility treatment.

Rhona Brankin: In 2004, the Executive reviewed adoption of eligibility criteria by NHS boards which revealed variability in the criteria actually being applied. We will take this into consideration when issuing revised guidance to NHS boards later in 2005.

Fertility Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to assist NHS boards in applying uniform eligibility criteria for couples seeking infertility treatment.

Rhona Brankin: In 2000, the Chief Medical Officer issued advice to NHS boards on national criteria for accessing assisted conception treatments, based on the recommendations of the Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland. We will be seeking views on revised criteria over the summer 2005 and issue further guidance to NHS boards in autumn.

Fertility Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to the NHS has been of providing infertility treatment to patients in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Rhona Brankin: This information is not routinely collected.

Fertility Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it plans to allocate to each NHS board for investment in infertility services in each of the next five years.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive has no plans to allocate additional funding specifically for investment in infertility services at the present time. NHS boards are expected to fund these services within their existing resource allocation, taking into account the needs of their resident population.

Fertility Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards do not currently provide three cycles of IVF treatment to couples with an established clinical need.

Rhona Brankin: We do not hold up-to-date information on how many NHS boards do not provide three cycles of IVF. However, we are currently reviewing compliance with the national criteria that NHS boards have been asked to work towards adopting.

Fertility Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive on what grounds it considers that it is reasonable to deny infertility treatment to a woman who has no biological children of her own but is in a relationship where there is a child, or children.

Rhona Brankin: In 2000, the Chief Medical Officer issued advice to NHS boards on national criteria for access to NHS-funded assisted conception treatment, based on the recommendations of the Expert Advisory Group on Infertility Services in Scotland (EAGISS). The criteria included social as well as clinical criteria. They include a criterion that there should be "no child living with the couple in their home" .  The consensus view of EAGISS (as supported by patient representatives) was that couples who already have a child in the home should be ineligible for NHS funded assisted conception treatment in order that a childless couple may have this opportunity. The criterion was re-considered at a consensus conference of EAGISS in 2003 when it was agreed it should continue to stand.

Fisheries

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many operators of Scottish fishing vessels were charged with landing fish illegally in each year since 2000.

Ross Finnie: The following table provides the total number of complaints issued by procurators fiscal against the owners and/or masters of fishing vessels registered at a Scottish port, in the years 2000 to 2004, for complaints which related directly to the illegal landing of fish.

  

Year
Totals


2000
3


2001
5


2002
15


2003
11


2004
8

Fisheries

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many operators of Scottish fishing vessels were successfully prosecuted for infractions of regulations on the landing of fish in each year since 2000.

Ross Finnie: The following table provides the total number of successful prosecutions obtained against the owners and/or masters of fishing vessels, registered at a Scottish port, in the years 2000 to 2004 for offences which related directly to the illegal landing of fish.

  

Year
Totals


2000
4


2001
13


2002
15


2003
12


2004
6

Fisheries

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many processing plants have been inspected between 2001 and 2005 to ensure compliance with (a) regulations on the size of fish landed for trade and (b) all other conservation-related regulations.

Ross Finnie: Inspections by fishery officers in processing plants are not for the purpose of inspecting plants as such but for following the movement of fish landings which are under examination. It is not possible to differentiate between such inspections for the purposes of ensuring compliance with regulation in the way requested. However, the total number of inspections carried out in processing plants by fishery officers to ensure compliance with all fisheries regulations are as follows:

  

Year
Totals


2001
1,239


2002
1,383


2003
2,030


2004
1,763


2005 (to end March)
341

Fisheries

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated tonnage of illegally-landed fish was in each year since 2000 and how the tonnage was calculated.

Ross Finnie: There are no reliable estimates of the tonnage of illegally landed fish.

  However the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) makes an on-going assessment of the quantity of fish which may have been landed illegally through a systematic analysis of the available data including returns completed by fishermen and the results of surveillance activity on the quayside and beyond the point of landing. That information is used to guide enforcement activity on an on-going basis. However, it cannot be relied upon as statistically accurate or suitable for evidential purposes, nor does it provide a reliable estimate of tonnage.

  The SFPA are able to estimate the amount of fish landed that might otherwise have gone unrecorded had a boarding at sea or an inspection at the point of landing not been carried out. Had the catch not been inspected it might be reasonable to assume that some or all of the quota sensitive species retained on board may not have been declared in returns made to fisheries departments. As reported in the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency’s Annual Report 2003-04 it is estimated that this amounts to between 500-700 tonnes per month for the demersal species.

Fisheries

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) last provided an estimate of the tonnage of illegally-landed fish.

Ross Finnie: The SFPA has never provided an estimate of the tonnage of illegally landed fish.

Food Standards Agency

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions took place between it and the UK Government prior to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget 2005 announcement that the role of the Food Standards Agency will be expanded; which ministers participated in any discussions; whether it will place the minutes of any discussions in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre; whether the new expanded agency will have offices in Scotland; how it will report to the Executive and the Parliament; who will appoint its board; what role the Executive will have in such appointments, and how much of the agency’s budget will be for devolved functions.

Rhona Brankin: In relation to the Food Standards Agency there were several meetings and exchanges of correspondence between the chairman of the Food Standards Agency and Philip Hampton, who led the review, and between their officials. These culminated in the response from the FSA to the proposals in Philip Hampton’s interim report. This response is being published on the FSA website. All these changes were sensitive to the geographical remit of the Hampton review, and the FSA’s status as a UK-wide non-ministerial department operating in a largely devolved area.

  There will be no change to the agency’s operations in Scotland. Any considerations arising from the Hampton report as far as they affect the devolved functions of the agency are being considered.

Prison Service

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement (a) it and (b) the Scottish Prison Service has in the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA).

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service, an agency of the Scottish Executive, is a national member of the association. I was honoured to be elected President of ICPA in October 2004. Ed Wozniak, Head of SPS Analytical Services is Chair of the ICPA Research Group.

Prison Service

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what expenditure (a) it and (b) the Scottish Prison Service has incurred in connection with its involvement in the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) in each financial year since 2001-02.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows: Amounts paid by the SPS to the ICPA are given in following:

  

2001-02
£184.48


2002-03
£168.58


2003-04
£3,045.41


2004-05
£2,845.89

Public Bodies

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who provides guidelines on commercial confidentiality to (a) its agencies, (b) non-departmental public bodies and (c) the Executive.

Ms Margaret Curran: Commercial confidentiality is a subject which has a wide range of application. The nature and source of advice on that subject will depend on the context in which it is required. There are a number of guidance documents which cover commercial confidentiality. These include procurement guidance, internal freedom of information guidance, the Code of Practice under section 60 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and briefings from the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner. These are all available to the Executive and its agencies and to non-departmental public bodies.

Race Relations

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to publish the findings of its mapping exercise on progress being made by public authorities towards meeting their duties to promote race equality, eliminate racial discrimination and promote good race relations under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive commissioned a review of race equality last year to consider, among other things, priorities in communities, Executive funding, and the infrastructure required to deliver effective race equality and community cohesion. As part of the evidence gathering process, a mapping exercise of race equality activity in the public sector was undertaken which used bodies’ Race Equality Schemes. The purpose of this mapping exercise report was to contribute to the body of knowledge informing the review. It was not to evaluate whether and to what extent Scottish public bodies are fulfilling their legal duties related to race relations. The report of the mapping exercise is available on the Executive’s One Scotland website, www.infoscotland.com .

  The Commission for Racial Equality has statutory powers to enforce compliance with the statutory duty to promote race equality. The commission keeps ministers informed of Scottish public authorities’ progress towards meeting the duty. For further information about this matter, you may wish to contact:

  The Commission for Racial Equality Scotland Office The TUN 12 Jackson’s Entry off Holyrood Road Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Tel: 0131 524 2000 www.cre.gov.uk.

Race Relations

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will take forward the Home Office strategy, Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society , in Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive will be publishing a report and action plan in the coming months following the Executive’s review of race equality. The review was commissioned by ministers last year given the changing context in which race equality work is being conducted. Among other things, the review considered priorities for communities, Executive funding, and the infrastructure required to deliver effective race equality and community cohesion.

  The report and action plan, which will be published on the Executive’s website, will form the basis of the Scottish response to the Home Office Strategy and will be set within the British framework.

Residential Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14392 by Rhona Brankin on 4 March 2005, what provision there is for elderly people currently in residential homes whose conditions merit nursing intervention.

Rhona Brankin: Care homes can be registered with the Care Commission to provide personal care, personal support or nursing care. The type of care a care home service is registered to provide is determined by what is set out in its statement of aims and objectives provided as part of the registration process.

  In care homes providing personal support or personal care or both, any short term nursing care needs of a resident can be provided by NHS community nursing services and, where appropriate, by transfer to hospital. Any on-going nursing care needs of a resident could be provided by transfer to NHS continuing care where this is appropriate or by transfer to a care home which is registered to provide nursing care.

  A care home registered to provide a particular form of care has the option of applying to the Care Commission for a variation of its conditions of registration, for instance to have the provision of nursing care to the resident concerned included in its registration.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what aspects of the UK Road Safety Bill will impact on devolved matters; what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government regarding the bill; what impact the bill will have on the ability to prosecute and detain foreign-registered vehicles for road traffic and other vehicular offences; whether the powers under the bill will apply in the same way in Scotland as in the rest of the United Kingdom, and how they will be applied, with specific reference to the detention of foreign-registered vehicles and the prosecution of their owners.

Cathy Jamieson: Most road traffic law is reserved to the Westminster Parliament and there were no specific implications for devolved matters contained in the Road Safety Bill. The greater part of the bill proposed to amend existing legislation, particularly the Road Traffic Act and the Road Traffic Offenders Act, and extended throughout Great Britain. However, the bill fell with the dissolution of Parliament.

  Where any case involving a foreign national is reported by the police to the Procurator Fiscal, a prosecution will be raised if there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to do so.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding the Greater Govan Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) has received as part of the Citizen Advocacy Pilot in each month since the pilot began.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows: The Govan Citizen’s Advocacy Project has to date received no money from the Greater Govan SIP.

Supermarkets

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will respond to Supermarkets: The code of practice and other competition issues , published by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on 22 March 2005, and what steps are being taken to protect the interests of food producers and farmers.

Ross Finnie: The report published by the Office of Fair Trading on 22 March is not yet the final advice to ministers. The OFT is seeking further hard evidence from suppliers about breaches of the Supermarket Code of Practice. We shall take careful stock of the final report which OFT makes to ministers and we shall have an input into the response. When I meet the major retailers I shall continue to emphasise how seriously the Executive views the importance of maintaining a sustainable food chain with healthy trading relationships between suppliers and retailers.

Vulnerable Adults

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to establish the Protection of Vulnerable Adults List for which the consultation process closed on 30 April 2004.

Rhona Brankin: We intend our Protection of Vulnerable Adults List will form part of our proposed Vulnerable Adults Bill, on which some preparatory work has already been completed. We will consult on further elements of a bill soon, and aim to bring forward legislation in this Parliament.